Creevey Stalker
by andimharry
Summary: Hermione has a stalker.
1. Chapter 1

Hermione Granger was crossing the barrier between platforms nine and ten to get to the Hogwarts Express. It was her last year at Hogwarts, and she had been made Head Girl. As soon as she had crossed the barrier, she saw the scarlet steam engine.

After walking some distance, she spotted two heads of flaming red hair, and a head with jet black hair. She smiled to herself, and making her way over to the three people.

"Ron! Harry! Ginny!" She yelled, waving her arms around.

They turned, and broke into smiles when they saw who was yelling out their names.

"Hermione!" Ginny squealed as she hugged her friend. "How was your summer?"

"It was quite boring, and you?" Hermione asked as she was pulled into a hug with Harry.

"I had to spend it with those two." Ginny whispered as she indicated Ron and Harry. "What do you think?"

"Hey!" Said Ron, pretending to be hurt. "We're not that bad are we?"

"Of course you're not," Said Hermione as she hugged Ron. "She was only joking."

"I know that!" Ron grinned.

"Shall we go get a compartment then?" Asked Harry.

Everybody nodded, and followed Harry into the Hogwarts Express.

They found an empty compartment and put their trunks away.

"So anything interesting happen to you three during summer?" Asked Hermione as she sat next to Ginny.

"We did buy a fellytone," Ron said importantly, "and I learned how to use it properly."

Hermione stifled a laugh. "You mean telephone, Ron?" Ron turned red and grumbled something about muggles and their devices.

"So where did you go for summer?" Harry asked Hermione.

"I went to St. Tropez, south of France. I was dead bored. I had no interest to go clubbing or anything of the sort. Thank goodness I had my copy of _Hogwarts, A History._"

It was Harry and Ron's turn to stifle their laughs. Hermione was about to retort to their behavior when somebody knocked on their compartment door.

"Yes?" Asked Ginny.

The compartment door opened, and Colin Creevy walked in. Harry made a face of annoyance.

"What is it Colin?" He asked in a bored voice.

"Erm, can I sit with you? All the other compartments are full." He asked nervously.

Harry looked at the others, and when nobody objected, he said, "I suppose so."

Colin's nervousness instantly vanished from his face, and he took a seat next to Harry, right across from Hermione. The train started moving shortly after Colin had sat down.

Hermione looked at Colin and noted a few things. He actually grew a few inches (considering he was now entering his sixth year), and he was a bit taller than her. He didn't have his camera dangling from his neck anymore, and although he was older, his voice was still oddly girl-like.

Hermione looked at him again. But this time, she noticed, he was staring at her as well. His eyes traveled from her long hair to her chest. But he stopped, and just shamelessly stared at her chest. Harry, happy that Colin didn't begin interrogating him, continued talking to Ginny and Ron, so he didn't notice Hermione's discomfort.

Hermione tried pulling up her shirt, but it still didn't stop Colin from staring at her chest.

_Why, oh why did I have to wear a low top?? And why is he being really creepy?... What_ _has gotten into him?? I thought he was obsessed with Harry!_

"Hermione, did you get made Head Girl?" Ron's statement broke her from her thoughts. She was so thankful that Ron had given her an excuse to leave the compartment.

"I can't believe I forgot to tell you! I did!" She beamed. "And now that you mention it, I better go to the Head's compartment to meet the head boy, and talk to the prefects!"

"Congratulations!" Ginny said. "I wonder who the Head Boy is?"

"I guess I'll go find out myself, then." Hermione got up, but as soon as she go up, Colin did too.

"Let me take you there!" Colin offered. Harry and Ron looked at Colin in surprise.

"Er- no, thanks, I think I can get there alone..." Hermione stammered.

"No, let me take you!" He insisted.

"Well, I suppose.." she trailed off weakly. Colin, looking triumphant, walked out of the compartment. Harry raised his eyebrows at Hermione.

"I can take care of him," she wearily assured Harry. She went out of the compartment and found Colin waiting for her.

As soon as they began walking, he bombarded her with questions.

"What did you do over summer Hermione? Have you ever been to Germany? Do you like cats? I don't, they make me sneeze..."

_Oh, gosh, what have I gotten myself into? Hes such a pest... Where is that darned compartment??_

_Heads compartment... Heads compartment... Bingo!_

"Er Colin, we're here." She pointed at the compartment labeled:

_**This compartment is reserved for**_

_**the Head Boy and Head Girl**_

"Oh..." Colin trailed off sadly. "Well, can I sit next to you at the feast tonight Hermione? We can talk some more in the Gryffindor Common Room! We can-" Hermione cut him off sharply.

"I'm sorry Colin, but I don't have time to discuss this. I need to go meet the head boy." And with that she entered the compartment and shut the sliding door. She let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding.

"So has Creevy decided to follow you instead of Saint Potter? I must say, it isn't much of an improvement," A voice spat behind her. She turned to be face-to-face with Draco Malfoy.

"What are you doing here?" She snapped.

"What do you think Granger? For being the 'brightest witch of your age' you sure aren't showing it!" He sneered, then sat down.

Hermione then noticed the Shiny Head Boy badge pinned to his shirt.

_You've got to be kidding..._


	2. Chapter 2

Hermione took a deep breath.

"How did you become head boy?" she asked almost accusingly.

"Well Granger, contrary to popular belief, I am as smart as you. If not, then smarter." He smirked, then continued looking out the window.

Hermione was a bit shocked, but recovered quickly.

"Well then, I suppose we will be having a very good year, considering the school's smartest witch and wizard will be in charge of almost all upcoming major events."

Malfoy merely snorted, and kept his gaze outside the window. Hermione sat down in a seat away from Malfoy. He looked the same as ever, his white blond hair slicked back, and his eyes were cold and grey as she had remembered them. Except for maybe he did grow a few inches over the summer. Her thoughts then traveled to Creevy.

_What if he follows me around the whole school year? I may need some body guards... like Crabbe and Goyle... speaking of body guards, where are they?_

Malfoy looked oddly incomplete without the two hulking figures of Crabbe and Goyle by his side.

And almost as if he were reading Hermione's mind, Malfoy stood up and said with some sarcasm, "This has been lovely Granger, but I have to get to my compartment. Crabbe and Goyle may be wondering where I have gone off to. Those idiots." Malfoy opened the door and walked into the compartment right across from the one he was in.

Hermione decided it was time to change into her school robes. She went over to the compartment with Harry, Ron and Ginny, and sincerely hoped Colin Creevy wasn't in there. She sighed with relief when she discovered he wasn't.

"Hey Hermione!" Ginny smiled as Hermione entered. "So who's the Head Boy?" Harry and Ron turned their gazes to Hermione to hear her response.

"Oh, its just Malfoy." She said as she waved her hand carelessly.

"What?!?!" Ron yelled. "Hermione, you should go complain to Dumbledore, or McGonagall, or-or-somebody!" Ron sputtered. His face was as red as his hair.

"Ron, its just Malfoy. Its not like I'm going to spend every single minute with him. The only time we actually have to talk is when we make patrol schedules. Thats it." She was using her one plus one equals two voice. It was working quite well; Ron's face wasn't as red as it had been before.

"OK, I guess..." Ron trailed off.

"Harry, Ginny, you haven't said anything yet, what do you think?"

"We thing you can take care of yourself, Hermione, and that this is no problem for someone like you to handle." Ginny responded, with Harry nodding in agreement with her.

"And if he does bother you, you can always hex him." Harry said, grinning.

Hermione smiled, and grabbed her trunk.

"So wheres Colin?" She asked.

"Probably locked himself inside the loo, the git." Ron said, picking at a spot on his hand.

Hermione decided to tell Ginny about Colin's strange behavior during the feast, but it went right out of her mind when she walked into the Great Hall.

After the first years got sorted into their houses, Professor Dumbledore went up to make a small speech.

"It is time for another year at Hogwarts. To the new students, welcome. To the old students, welcome back. Now, before we get immersed in our feast, I need to introduce to you our new Head Boy and Girl. Miss Granger, Mister Malfoy, if you would kindly stand up for a moment."

Hermione and Malfoy stood up to show who they were.

"Thank you," Dumbledore continued, "now, I wish for you to treat these two students with respect, because they will be able to assign detention, and they will also have the privilege of giving or removing house points. Let the feast begin."

Hermione looked over at the Slytherin table. Malfoy looked extremely smug, talking to some girls who kept touching his Head Boy badge. She rolled her eyes, and began talking to Lavender and Ginny.

After the desserts vanished from the table and Dumbledore had given his last announcements, Hermione was called up to go see Professor McGonagall. Malfoy was called up as well.

"Miss Granger, Mister Malfoy, follow me to your dorms please."

They walked up a couple set of stairs and went though a few corridors. They stopped in front of a painting of an old wizard playing chess with a goblin.

"I will give you a list of your responsibilities tomorrow morning, and you will be expected to make the timetables for patrolling. For now, your password is _Devil's Snare_. Good night."

Hermione entered their common room. It was almost as big as the Gryffindor common room, and instead of being decorated in scarlet and gold, it was decorated in neutral colors. She walked up the set of stairs that led to her dorm room. Her dorm looked exactly as it did when she slept in Gryffindor tower, except for there was only one bed.

_This isn't so bad... the only thing I have to share with Malfoy is the common room..._

Hermione was thrilled of the prospect of having her own bathroom. She grabbed her bath robe and some pajamas from her cabinet, and went to her _private_ bathroom to have a shower.

Hermione woke up the next morning, and after dressing and making sure her hair was OK, headed for some breakfast. She found Ginny reading the Daily Prophet and eating cereal.

"Ginny?" Hermione asked, looking kind of worried, "are you _reading_?" Ginny looked up.

"No, I'm only pretending to." She grinned. "So, how is the whole sharing - dorms - with - Malfoy going?"

"Actually, it is not as bad as you may think. I didn't even see or hear him last night. And the only thing we have to share is the common room."

"Well, you are really lucky," Ginny said matter-of-factly, "because Malfoy is a total hottie."

"Ginny!" Hermione whispered, looking alarmed, "keep your voice down, you wouldn't want Harry or Ron to hear you say that!"

Ginny shrugged, and ate some more of her cereal. Hermione then remembered to tell Ginny about Colin, when at that moment, he sat down next to Hermione.

"Hey Hermione!" He said breathlessly, "What classes do you have today? Do you think we may have the same class?"

Ginny looked at the two from above her newspaper. She raised an eyebrow. Hermione gave her a 'please save me' look, and Ginny understood immediately.

"Er - Hermione, I think Malfoy is calling you." She pointed to Malfoy, who was just entering the Great Hall.

"No hes not," Colin said as he looked over at Malfoy with narrowed eyes. "Hes yawning."

"Yes he is!" Hermione scrambled out of her seat towards Malfoy. She grabbed the blond boy and ran out of the Hall.

"Arrgh! Granger! Get off!" He snapped as he brushed off the spot where Hermione had grabbed his arm. "If you're here to make the bloody timetables, forget it. I am not starting off the day by doing work."

"No, no!" Hermione whispered, annoyed by his behavior. "I'm hiding from Colin Creevy. Hes been following me everywhere!"

Malfoy's expression changed from disgust to amusement.

"So you have a stalker. Congratulations. If your lucky, he may start an 'I love Mudbloods club'." He smirked and went back into the Great Hall.

What troubled Hermione about Malfoy's comment was not that he had called her a Mudblood. It was that what if Colin began parading around, telling everybody he loved her? She couldn't bear to think about it. She went up to her room to prepare for Potions, her first class of the day.

Potions went by pretty normally; Harry getting points docked from Gryffindor for being tardy, and Malfoy getting points to Slytherin for – well – just being Malfoy.

Hermione entered the Great Hall with Ron and Harry, laughing about how Neville's potion caused Goyle to sprout an extra arm on top of his head. She sat down, relieved that Colin was nowhere in sight. Professor McGonagall came over to Hermione to give her a list of the things she and Malfoy would be planning that year.

"So whavte do you haff to do vis year?" Ron asked, his mouth full of food.

Hermione, ignoring Ron's rude table manners said, "We'll have to plan the Winter Ball, and the Graduation Ceremony."

"Sounds like merry fun," Harry said sarcastically, "And you get to do all that with Malfoy! Ron and I are so jealous."

She smacked him playfully and ate the rest of her lunch.

After all of her classes and dinner, Hermione returned to her common room to do homework.

After a few minutes, Malfoy entered the common room. He stood next to Hermione, who was reading a textbook so fast, her eyes looked blurry.

"What?" She snapped after a while, annoyed that he just stood by her.

"You have a letter."

"Huh?" He dropped a small piece of parchment rolled with a ribbon around it on her desk. Malfoy then went to his room. Hermione put her book down and opened the roll of parchment, dreading what she was about to see. It said:

_**Dear Hermione,**_

_**I really like you. **_

_**And I think you like me too.**_

_**We should be together,**_

_**Just you and me forever.**_

_**Nothing will tear us apart**_

_**We are two halves to one heart.**_

_**Love,**_

_**A Secret Admirer**_

Hermione felt extremely nauseous. How could Colin think she liked him too? And what if Malfoy had read the letter? He would tell everybody. No, Colin had taken this too far. She would have to confront him tomorrow.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: First off, I would like to thank my reviewers for the lovely reviews! They have inspired me to continue writing:**

**Secondly, I would've posted this on Friday, but my internet wasn't working very well so I couldn't post it. Then the fanfiction document uploader wasn't working so I couldn't post it over the weekend:**

**Well, the story is here now, so enjoy!**

Hermione woke up the next morning with a feeling of dread. Knowing that she would have to confront Colin wasn't making her day any easier. It wasn't the actual discussion that was making her nervous, it was the way he would react. Although he was a bit of a pest, the last thing she wanted to do was to hurt his feelings.

She entered the Great Hall and scanned the Gryffindor table. Colin was nowhere to be seen. A little relieved, she took a seat next to Ginny, who was chatting with a sixth year.

"Hey Gin." She said as as she sat down.

"Good morning Hermione," Ginny replied, her voice sounding a bit sweeter than usual. Hermione reached for the juice jug. "So anything inter-" Ginny was cut off by the owls swooping in the hall to deliver mail. Hermione received her copy of the Daily Prophet, and began reading. After a few minutes, Ginny noisily interrupted.

"Well, aren't you going to tell me _anything_?" She looked annoyed.

"Tell you what?" Hermione asked, taken aback by Ginny's tone.

"Why was Colin acting all chummy with you?"

"Oh. About that..." Hermione proceeded to tell Ginny what had happened on the train and last night.

"-and I was so worried last night when Malfoy gave me the note- I mean what if he had read it? He would tell everybody in school! Then Colin would hear about it, and he'll think I like him back too!"

"Do you?" Ginny asked curiously.

"Of course not! Are you mad?" Hermione snapped.

"Just wondering," Ginny shrugged.

"I just hope it doesn't get any worse than this..." Hermione groaned as she put her face in her hands.

Ginny patted her back sympathetically.

"Are you going to tall Harry and Ron?"

Hermione pondered over what she had said for a moment.

"No. Not now, I mean," she added after seeing the look on Ginny's face. "If it gets any worse (which I doubt it will), I'll ask them for a helping hand." She grabbed a piece of toast. "And besides, its not like I can't deal with him. I mean, what can he do?"

"What can who do Hermione?" Ron asked as he and Harry took seats across from her.

"Er- what can-" Hermione hadn't seen them enter the Great Hall.

"-what can Hagrid do for his next lesson!" Ginny said in a hasty rush. "I had him yesterday, and he didn't know what to do for his next lesson."

"Oh," said Harry, "Just tell him to do a lesson with Nifflers. Those where fun..." he trailed off with a reminiscent gleam in his eye.

"OK, I'll be sure to tell him that."

"Speaking of Hagrid," Hermione said, changing the subject, "we should visit him soon."

Harry and Ron nodded in agreement.

The next day, Hermione didn't find Colin. In fact, she didn't see him the rest of the week. She was slightly cheerful that she didn't come across him, and that she hadn't received any more notes, but she was a bit suspicious.

_What could be keeping him from annoying me? Not that I should care... I mean, my week is going pretty well... the last thing I need is a boy following me around._

But the thing that was really troubling Hermione was that she hadn't heard one peep out of Malfoy about the letter. If he had read the letter, (which she was most certain that he did), why wasn't he telling as many people as he could about it?

_Come to think of it, Malfoy hasn't been harassing me nearly as much as he used to. He only makes the occasional snide comment when hes near other Slytherins, but other than that, he hasn't really argued about anything... And he's actually cooperating with me when we make patrol schedules._

_What is wrong with him???_

Hermione woke up on Saturday, and savored the fact that it was the weekend. She got out of bed and looked out her window. She had a very good view of the Quidditch pitch from her room. She could make out the tiny green-and-silver figures flying on broomsticks. The Slytherins were having Quidditch try-outs.

Hermione entered the Great Hall for breakfast. Ginny was talking with Lavender, and Harry and Ron were eating. Lavender got up and went to sit next to Parvati. Hermione took Lavender's seat.

"Ey Er-my-nee" Ron said through a mouthful of food, "wvhy you up sovlate?"

Hermione spared him a look of disgust.

"I was _triple-checking_ my homework last night." Her statement caused Ron to choke. She smirked.

_That will teach him to have manners when he eats._

"I have some interesting news." Ginny announced.

"Hm?" Hermione responded, her eyebrows raised.

"Turns out Colin was lurking around the Quidditch pitch during tryouts today. He got hit in the head with a bludger."

Hermione was surprised.

_What on earth would he be doing on the Quidditch pitch right now? Especially when the Slytherins were there?_

"And theres more," Ginny continued. "He's in the Hospital Wing right now. After he wakes up, he has detention with Madame Hooch."

"Why?" Hermione asked.

"When she found him, he had a broom in his hand. He was probably trying to nick it."

_A broom?? What does he need with a broom??_

"Serves him right, the prick." Ron piped up. "Probably trying to learn some moves so he can get on the Gryffindor Quidditch team."

Harry snorted. "Like that would ever happen. The day he gets on the Quidditch team is the day Snape gives me house points for being _The Chosen One_." Everybody laughed. Harry and Ron then began talking about Quidditch strategies.

Hermione turned to Ginny. "How did you find out about all that?"

"Sometimes Lavender's big mouth comes in handy." She smiled half-heartedly, then continued eating. Hermione knew why she did that. Last year, Lavender spread a rumor that Ginny and Harry were going out. The sad part was that Ginny actually had feelings for Harry, but since he avoided her, he confirmed not liking her in that way.

The Slytherin Quidditch team then entered the Great Hall. Hermione spotted Malfoy's blond head at the front, leading he rest of the team. He looked - different. His hair wasn't slicked back as usual. Instead, it fell on his face, and it was still wet from his shower. It made his face look a lot less pointy. He was laughing about something with the rest of the team.

_With out that sneer on his face... Malfoy is actually decent looking... _

"Hermione?" Ginny asked looking in the direction of Hermione's gaze. She raised her eyebrows. Hermione blushed, and looked away. Ginny didn't say anything, but she had a knowing look on her face.

Since Colin was in the Hospital wing for a few weeks, Hermione had a lot more time to relax, and concentrate. She was a lot more in touch with her thoughts as well. Ever since Ginny had caught her staring at Malfoy, she felt differently about him. She would no longer think of him as a spoiled brat, but as a normal person. Whenever she would see him talking to other girls, a tiny part of her would burn with jealousy. The strange thing was, he was always talking to girls. She had never really studied Malfoy closely before, but she had discovered that Ginny was right. Malfoy was a total hottie.

Hermione was in the Gryffindor common room on Friday night, watching Harry and Ron play chess. After Ron had defeated Harry four times, she decided to go back to her dorm room.

As she walked past a statue of an old warlock, someone jumped out at her.

She screamed and covered her face protectively. The person who had jumped out laughed.

"Really Granger, sometimes you're just too wound up. You need to have some fun." Malfoy grinned cheekily.

"What the hell Malfoy?" Hermione snapped. "I thought someone was attacking me!" He stopped laughing.

"Who would want to attack you?" He asked curiously.

"Colin Cree -" She couldn't stop the words from coming out. She looked at the floor.

"Speaking of that oaf," Malfoy said, putting his hand in the pocket of his robe, "You have another letter." He handed her another rolled up piece of parchment.

"So you know he wrote me the other one?" She asked weakly as she took the letter. "Did you read it?"

"Naturally," He shrugged. She opened the piece of parchment. It said:

_**Dear Hermione,**_

_**Thank you for visiting me in the Hospital Wing when I was injured.**_

_**I know I couldn't see or hear you, but just knowing you were there **_

_**made me feel better. I will see you at breakfast tomorrow.**_

_**Colin**_

Hermione took several deep breaths of air.

_What the hell caused him to think I was visiting him? Did Malfoy tell him?..._

She looked up at Malfoy. "Did you read this one as well?"

"If I read the first one, then why wouldn't-"

"OK, OK." She sighed. "Has he been giving these to you in person?"

"Yes," He said in an amused voice. "You have no idea how funny it was when that little boy cam up to me. He was shaking like mad."

Hermione didn't understand. "Why is he giving them to you? I mean, you might not have given them to me at all."

"Do you want to know what I think?" He asked. "I that was the whole point. He's giving the letters to me because he _knows_ I'll read them. He knows I couldn't resist blabbing out that Granger has a secret love affair."

Hermione narrowed her eyes. "And why _didn't_ you tell everybody about this?"

"Because, that git thought he could use me. Use me to advertise your 'relationship'. But I proved him wrong. And besides, I know very well that you do not return any of the feelings he shared for you."

Hermione looked at him with her mouth agape. She was speechless. Had Malfoy helped her? Why was he being so... considerate?

"Shut you mouth Granger, you look like a dying fish." He smirked, then walked back to their dorms. Hermione stood there for a while, everything sinking in.

_Although Colin is a pain in the arse, I have to give him props. Giving the letters to Malfoy were a good idea. But I really don't think Malfoy was the one who told him that I had supposedly visited him when he was hurt... maybe his brain suffered some extensive damage._

Hermione was sitting under a tree with Harry and Ron near the lake the next day. Harry and Ron were complaining about Snape and the homework he had assigned over the weekend. Hermione had already finished the assignment, so she was reading a book.

"Look who's coming over," Ron said in an undertone to Harry. Harry groaned. Hermione looked up. To her intense embarrassment, Colin Creevy was walking over to the three, a goofy smile on his face.

"Hey Hermione! I've missed you!" he yelled, waving enthusiastically. Several people in the vicinity turned their attention to Hermione. Harry and Ron looked at her. She groaned, her face red,and hid behind the book she was reading.

"Hermione," Harry asked, looking very confused, "Is there something you're not telling us?"


	4. Chapter 4

**I am so sorry I haven't updated in a really long time... its testing time at my school, so I've been really busy studying... and I realized I have been making a really idiotic mistake: I have been spelling Colin's last name wrong, its Creevey, not Creevy. So I will be spelling it correctly from now on. **

**But the chapter is here now, so we mustn't dwell on the past!**

Hermione didn't know what to do. She had purposely avoided Colin at breakfast, but he had found her. Before she could answer Harry, Colin had taken a seat on the ground close to Hermione.

_A bit too close for my liking._

Hermione awkwardly scooted away.

"Colin," Harry asked, baffled, "Not to sound rude or anything, but er- why are you here?"

Colin smiled at Harry as though he were a toddler.

"To see Hermione, of course."

"What? Why would you want to see Hermione?"

Colin turned to Hermione. "You didn't tell them?"

Hermione, whose face was scarlet, didn't say anything. Colin took her embarrassment for something else. He smiled.

"Well, I suppose Hermione's too shy to say anything... but, we're going out!"

The small crowd which had gathered around their tree let out a gasp.

"Granger, going out with _him_?"

"-what an odd pairing-"

"-_ugh_ that's gross!"

Everything seemed as though it were going in slow motion. All of what Colin had just said was slowly sinking in. Hermione could faintly hear Harry and Ron arguing with Colin. She didn't say anything, and she didn't move a muscle. She didn't do anything, not until she heard Colin say, "Well, I sent her an owl asking if she would be my girlfriend, and she said yes!"

_Now wait just one second. First he thinks I visited him at the Hospital Wing... then he says I accept to be his girlfriend from an imaginary owl? What is this bullocks??_

"No." She said, breaking from her thoughts.

The crowd turned their attention to her. Colin, looking quite smug asked her, "What did you say Hermione?" He put his arm around her shoulder.

"I said NO!" She stood up quickly and shoved Colin's arm off her.

"Colin, don't you dare lie. You never sent me an owl, I never agreed to be your girlfriend, and I never visited you in the Hospital Wing! Where are you getting all of these lies from? Have I ever gave the slightest hint that I ever liked you?" She took a breath, waiting for Colin to say something. When he didn't, she continued. "So now that you know I do not share the feelings you have for me, won't you _please_, _please_ for Merlin's sake, leave me alone?"

For a moment, Colin looked as thought he were to burst into tears, but when he stood up, his face remained blank. The large crowd parted itself so Colin could pass. Hermione sighed.

"Hermione," Harry asked, his face pale, "Why didn't you tell us? We could've helped you."

She rubbed her temples tiredly. "I don't know... I didn't think it would become such a big deal..."

The crowd left in small groups, whispering about what they had just witnessed.

Harry didn't know what to say to make Hermione feel better. He looked at Ron for help, but Ron merely shrugged.

"Er-Hermione, do you want to go to Hagrid's? We haven't visited him in a while." She nodded, and they made their way to Hagrid's cabin.

They found Hagrid outside, holding several shiny items, including a few gold Galleons.

"Hey Hagrid!" Ron said, eyeing what Hagrid had in his hand with interest.

"Hello!" He said as he looked down at them.

"What are you doing?" Ron asked.

"Oh, I'm jus' abou' to go in ter the forest," he replied, putting all the shiny objects in a small bag.

"Why?" Ron was now on tiptoe, trying to see the objects Hagrid had just put in the bag.

"Well, I took yer sister's advice, and I had a lesson with nifflers. But some ruddy kids let them all loose, and they've escaped in ter the forest!"

"Can we help you?" Harry asked, glancing over at Hermione to see if she looked interested.

"Er- I suppose so," He said. "Here, take a few of these each-" He opened the small bag and fished out a few shiny objects for each of them, "and come in ter the forest with me."

Ron looked extremely excited; he had received a Galleon.

"Hagrid, why are you using Galleons? You might lose them!" Ron said holding the Galleon as though it were his first born son. Hagrid chuckled.

"They're not real o' course! Its leprechaun gold!" Ron looked crestfallen, but he still held the gold coin close to him.

"How're you doin' Ermione?" Hagrid asked, looking at her. " You haven't said anythin' this whole time."

She shrugged.

"I don't feel much like talking, that's all." They were now walking through the forest. Hagrid looked at her suspiciously, but didn't say anything.

"Alrigh' now, watch yer heads!" Hagrid indicated a low branch. He stepped over it easily, while Harry and Ron ducked to avoid it. Hermione, who wasn't nearly as tall as Harry and Ron didn't duck.

"Ow!" she yelped, holding the side of her head.

"What is it?" Harry said sharply, turning and grabbing his wand.

"Its nothing," Hermione said, "My hair just got tangled in the branch." She looked at the branch, which now contained a lot of brown hair.

After her episode with Colin, the whole school knew about it. Many people – mainly Slytherins – made snide comments about her "love affair", while others just looked at her with pity. Hermione had never gotten so much attention from the school before; Harry was usually the one that people were focused on.

"Hermione, you're taking all this very well," Harry told her as they sat down in the Great Hall for dinner the next day. "Most people wouldn't show their face in a situation like this." He snuck a quick glance at Ron, who had not seemed to hear what he had just said.

"I suppose..." She said distractedly, as she began to eat.

The reason why Hermione was taking this very well was that Draco Malfoy hadn't said anything about it. She was beginning to like him, and the prospect of him being nice to her made her heart soar.

Malfoy then entered the Great Hall, and sat at the Slytherin table. He began talking to Crabbe and Goyle, and whatever he had told them made them laugh. She stared at Malfoy, wishing that he was telling her something funny. He looked up and caught Hermione's eye. He winked. Hermione blushed, and pretended to drop her fork on the floor, so people at the table wouldn't see her red face.

"Here, I'll get that-" Ron said, bending over to get her fork. Hermione was already under the table, and was desperately trying to hide the fact that she was blushing.

"Hermione, why is your face so red? Do you have a fever?" His comment made her blush even more, and she stood up.

"Er- I think your right, I do feel a bit under the weather. I - I think I'll go see Madame Pomfrey for something." Ron nodded his head in agreement, and scooted over so she could get out of her seat.

Once out of the Great Hall, Hermione made her way to her dorm room. She mentally slapped herself for being foolish.

_Way to go Hermione,... Malfoy just winks at you, and you become a life-sized tomato. Good thing Ron's not bright enough to figure out what was going on..._

"Why did I do that? Now he knows I like him!" She muttered quietly to herself.

She heard some footsteps behind her and abruptly stopped. She whipped her wand out and stood, listening for the footsteps. She turned around, and saw Draco Malfoy leaning against a wall, smirking at her. Hermione sighed, and stowed her wand away.

"I didn't know that a wink could make one so agitated." He drawled, walking towards Hermione. She felt her face getting hot, and refused to meet his eyes. "If I didn't know any better Granger, I would say..." He didn't finish.

Hermione looked up at him, waiting to hear what he would say. When he didn't reply, she asked him, "You would say what?"

"Oh, its nothing," He said, waving his hand as though he were shooing a particularly pesky fly. "Just thinking _out loud_." He smirked, and walked towards their dorms. Hermione stood there, absolutely embarrassed. He had heard her muttering to herself.

When she entered the portrait hole to her common room, Malfoy was sitting on the couch with a letter in his hands. He looked troubled, but she didn't say anything. She quickly went to her dorm, not looking at him.

After showering, she lay in bed reading a book assigned for Charms. She felt her lips, which were dry, and went over to her robe to find her lip balm. She groaned as she realised it had fallen out of her robe when she took her wand out.

After a week, Hermione's tale with Colin was old news. All the talk in the corridors were now about Pansy Parkinson. She had been removed from school because she had found out she was pregnant. This really didn't interest Hermione as much as Colin's absence from, well, everything. Although she did feel that the 'talk' she had with him was essential, she felt bad; maybe she embarrassed him so much that he couldn't show his face any more.

She now spent a lot of time in the library, since Harry and Ron were practising for Quidditch almost every night. Hermione had been having a strange feeling every time she walked around the castle by herself, as though she were being watched. She didn't think into it, and occupied herself with Malfoy instead. He was becoming increasingly more flirty and open with her, and she enjoyed every minute of it. She was also making the patrol schedules so that they would patrol together at least once a week.

That Friday, they would be patrolling together. Right after dinner, Hermione rushed to her room to shower, and get dressed to patrol. Although she would be wearing her robes, she left them open, and she wore a skirt a bit above her knee. Her shirt was also just a tad more revealing than her other shirts. She looked in the mirror to make sure she looked nice, but not too obvious.

After leaving their dorms, she and Malfoy walked together to meet the prefects to decide which routes they would be taking. After telling the prefects who they would be patrolling with, and what floors they would be patrolling, Hermione made her way with Malfoy to the dungeons.

"I haven't been here in a while," Malfoy said, looking around at the dungeons.

"Don't you go to the Slytherin common room in your spare time?" Hermione asked, thinking about how many times she had been to the Gryffindor common room so far.

"Not really," He said shrugging, "The only people I would actually talk to is Crabbe, Goyle and Zabini, but I see them during mealtimes. And besides, I like having my own room. Its nice not hearing Crabbe's horrendous snores and Goyle's nonsense muttering during the night." Hermione laughed, and Malfoy smiled.

After walking for a while, they heard some shouts. They made their way around a corner, and opened a tapestry to find two sixth-year Slytherin boys tackling each other on the ground. They were swearing loudly, and throwing jinxes and hexes at each other.

"Hermione, watch out!" Malfoy yelled as he grabbed her and pulled her out of the way of a hex. He pinned Hermione against the wall, and his arms were around her. Hermione looked up at him, and saw him looking back down at her. His eyes weren't the cold gray she was used to. They were oddly warm looking, and inviting. She suddenly had a very strong desire to kiss him. She was about to lean up, and Malfoy began to lean down when the two boys rolled out of the tapestry still fighting and yelling. Malfoy seemed to gather his thoughts and pulled away, turning his attention to the boys.

"I'll go for this one-" He indicated the brown haired boy "-and you go for that one." he pointed at the black haired boy. Hermione nodded.

"_Petrificus Totalus._" They chanted together. The two boys were frozen stiff, and the one on top toppled over onto the ground. Malfoy dragged one of them away from the other. He and Hermione muttered the counter curse.

"Nelson, Hicks," Malfoy said sharply, his voice suddenly stern. "Twenty points from Slytherin. I could care less what you were bickering about, but if I catch you at it again, not only will I deduct points, but you'll receive a week's worth of detentions as well. Understood?"

The boys nodded glumly, and limped slowly back to their common room. Malfoy sighed, and checked his watch.

"Its been two hours." He said turning around and making his way to the Head's common room. Hermione walked slowly to the common room, absorbed in what had just happened. She was so caught up in her thoughts that she did not see the figure stooped behind a statue glaring at her.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N : Aah! All of those wonderful reviews inspired me to write faster! Thank you so much! Here's the next chapter:**

Hermione went down to breakfast on Saturday to find Ginny talking with some sixth years. (Harry and Ron were practising at the Quidditch pitch).

She sat down next to Ginny, who turned her attention to Hermione.

"Hey Hermione, what's up?"

"I need to talk to you," She replied. "Did you eat?"

"Yea," Ginny said, standing up. "Why?"

"Lets go to my room, follow me." Noting the seriousness in Hermione's voice, Ginny followed her to the Head's dorms.

"You know, come to think of it," Ginny noted as they reached the portrait of the warlock and goblin who were now snoozing, "I've never actually been to you dorm before."

Hermione looked mildly surprised as she realised she hadn't show Ginny her dorm. She woke up the warlock, who gave Hermione a dirty look. She said the password, and he grumbled something about "weekends" and "sleeping in", but opened the portrait hole.

"Oooh! You get all this? No wonder you never want to let anyone in here, its lovely!" Ginny said in awe, looking at the common room.

Hermione motioned for Ginny to follow her, and they walked up the steps into her dorm.

"Hermione, can I move in with you?" She asked, as she entered Hermione's room looking at her bed and bathroom almost teary-eyed.

"Stop being silly. Its nice and all but - ugh - never mind! We have to talk!" She sat down on her bed and Ginny followed suit.

"What is it?"

Hermione began to tell Ginny about Malfoy, and how close they had been getting over the last few months. She then told her what had happened last night during patrol, but she left out the part where Malfoy had called her by her first name. It felt too personal to tell Ginny.

"Why didn't you tell me about this sooner?" Ginny squealed, positively bouncing with excitement. "Where is he now?" She lowered her voice, "Is he still sleeping?"

"I think so," Hermione said. She looked down at the mattress. "You know, last night, after - you know," She continued, "He looked at his watch, and just left. He didn't say anything about what had happened."

Ginny hugged her shoulders.

"Its OK, he'll come around. _I_ think now that you two have shown your liking toward one another, he's just too shy to face you. Give him some time."

"You think so?" Hermione looked up, looking slightly more cheerful.

"I'm positive. Now, lets go wait in the common room. Malfoy may come down wearing something revealing." She grinned cheekily as Hermione playfully smacked her with a pillow.

The following weeks were proving Ginny wrong. Malfoy was not talking to Hermione as he used to. Their conversations, once lengthy and fun, were now short, and strictly related to school. What seemed to bother Hermione the most was when he called her by her first name. It seemed so personal, just because it was Malfoy who had said it. She tried not to think about it so much, but found that quite difficult. Many of her thoughts, may it be her assignments, teachers, clothes, all somehow lead to Malfoy. She even made the patrol schedules so that she never patrolled with him any more, but it didn't help very much.

Hermione had also been losing a lot of things. First a hair clip, then a quill, even a pair of her underwear! She had no idea how she lost them, but the strange thing was, whenever she retraced her steps to find whatever she had lost, the items where nowhere to be found. She supposed that the hair clip was just misplaced, and her quill was taken by somebody else – accidentally. For the underwear, she only hoped one of the house elves had lost it in the laundry.

The first match of the season, Gryffindor versus Slytherin, was coming up. There were a lot more injuries and 'accidents' within the Gryffindor and Slytherin houses. People kept getting sent to the hospital wing with tentacles sprouting from their face, or extremely long toe nails protruding from their shoes. Hermione had been bust the entire week, assigning detentions or deducting house points from students cursing each other. Malfoy had been practising for Quidditch (he was the team Captain), so Hermione had to do all the Head's duties alone.

Hermione woke early on the first day of the match. She walked over to her window to see the Quidditch pitch. She could see tiny figures on brooms passing around what looked like the Quaffle. She yawned, and proceeded to get dressed in Gryffindor colours.

Harry and Ron were already in the Great Hall, eating. Harry looked relaxed, and cheery, while Ron looked as though he was suffering from a hangover.

"Alright you guys?" Hermione asked as she sat across from them. She grabbed a piece of toast and began munching on it.

"Yea, we've been practising so hard these past few weeks." Harry said as he took a gulp of coffee. "And Ron's improved tons."

Hermione looked at Ron and gave him a sympathetic smile.

"You'll do fine Ron." She patted his hand kindly.

"Easy for you to say," he muttered.

Hermione ignored his comment, and looked over at Harry's watch.

"Oh, look! Its almost time! You'd better go change into your robes." She squeezed both of their hands. "Good luck!"

Harry and Ron hurriedly went to the Quidditch pitch. After a few minutes Hermione made her way to the pitch with Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil. They were gossiping about a new Slytherin player whom they had a great interest in.

She found Ginny already at the pitch, and they got seats in the middle of the stadium.

"So who are you going to cheer for?" She asked, grinning.

_Malfoy._

"Gryffindor of course!" She said, sounding offended. Luna Lovegood was at the commentator's podium, and she was introducing the teams.

After a few minutes into the game, Gryffindor was in the lead, sixty to fifty. Luna was talking about how the Quidditch player's uniforms were made of pygmy puff skins.

"Have you noticed how soft they look? That's because Madame Malkin's shop is slaying innocent pygmy puffs to make team uniforms."

"SEVENTY – FIFTY TO GRYFFINDOR!" Professor McGonagall barked in the background. Many of the people in the crowd cheered and laughed. Luna continued her discussion on pygmy puffs.

"Oh, look," Luna said after a while, unconcerned, "The seekers are chasing the snitch. That blonde boy in the green is a bit ahead. I think it's Regis – or is it Roy..?"

"His name is Malfoy!" Professor McGonagall yelled impatiently. The Slytherin crowd cheered Malfoy on, while the Gryffindors cheered for Harry.

Hermione looked in her binoculars to see the speeding figures of Harry and Malfoy race for the snitch.

Malfoy looked as though he had a few inches advantage, but Harry was flying a bit faster. Hermione stood up, watching, shaking her hands in anticipation.

"C'mon Malfoy... you can do it..." She whispered under her breath.

"Oh, look, that fat beater from the Slytherin team in picking his nose." Luna pointed at the hulking figure of Crabbe. "That's a really disgusting habit you know-" She was interrupted by the tremendous screams and cheers from the Slytherin end of the pitch. "Oh, it seems Regis has caught the snitch. I suppose Slytherin won then. I was actually hoping Gryffindor would win..."

"SLYTHERIN WINS - TWO HUNDRED TO SEVENTY!" Professor McGonagall yanked the microphone away from Luna, and proceeded to exit the pitch.

Hermione shuffled out with the rest of the Gryffindors who were muttering gloomily to each other. Although she was sad that Gryffindor lost, Malfoy's victory may give her an excuse to talk to him. She hurried up to her dorm room, and changed into something more comfortable, and less warm.

After a while, Malfoy came into the common room, his hair wet from his shower. Hermione was reading a book at one of the tables, and pretended to pay no attention to him.

"What? Not even a 'congratulations'?" He asked after a moment. Hermione smiled behind her book and put it down.

"It was a good game," She admitted, shrugging. Malfoy snorted sarcastically, and went to his room to change.

He came back out, holding another letter. He sat down on the couch.

"Er – Granger," he said sounding worried, "I think you'd better see this."

"What is it?" When he didn't answer, she got up and sat next to him on the couch. He gave her an envelope that was addressed to him. Hermione slowly opened the envelope, and pulled out a bunch of photos. They were Muggle photos – they weren't moving. Each one of the photos was of Hermione. The first few were of her in her pyjamas, looking thoroughly tired. Other ones were of her walking down the corridors, or climbing up the stairs.

In each of the pictures, some cleavage or an extra bit of thigh was shown. Her hands now shaking, she slowly looked at the last picture. It was Hermione in Malfoy's arms, and they looked as though they were about to kiss.

She dropped the pictures. She took slow deep breaths of air, and forced herself to calm down.

"When did – where did you get these?" She asked quietly.

"Somebody sent them to me during the game. They were in my room."

"Is this all you have?"

"Er – no. I got more stuff." He got up and went to his room. He returned shortly, carrying a box. He gave the box to Hermione. Inside were her lip balm, her quill, her hair clip, a pair of underwear, and a small envelope. She grabbed the envelope, and opened it. Inside was a note, and what looked like her hair. The note said:

_**In case you never get to**_

_**touch it, this is what it**_

_**feels like.**_

She put the note and hair back in the box, and grabbed the underwear. It was the pair she had lost.

Slowly, she put the box on the floor.

"I first got the quill and lip balm. I thought it was a stupid joke, and I ignored it. I then got the underwear. It was a bit disconcerting, but it could've been anyone's. When I got the hair, I was a bit worried, but then -" Malfoy was suddenly cut off. Hermione had burst into tears, and had her face in her hands.

She was sobbing uncontrollably, hunched over on the couch. Malfoy looked clueless for a while, not knowing how to comfort the sobbing Hermione. After a few painful moments, he put his arms around her, and held her close to his chest. Hermione's sobs were ceasing, and she looked up at him.

His eyes didn't look piercing and cold, but they looked warm once again. She was going to ask what he was doing when his lips met hers. The kiss was gentle, and it sent butterflies through Hermione's stomach. After a few moments, she pulled back, and looked at him questioningly. He knew what she was asking, but replied by kissing her again. Hermione melted in his arms, feeling protected. After a while, they pulled away, and said nothing. She laid her head on his shoulder and sighed.

"I just thought it was going to be over, you know, they whole thing with Colin."

"You think Colin did this?"

"I know he did it. Whenever I would walk around the castle, I felt as though somebody was watching me, and I guess I was right. I was also losing a lot of my stuff, and I had no idea where they went."

"Why didn't you tell me this?" He asked.

"Well, after that night when we patrolled, we kind of stopped talking. I didn't think you cared."

"I wasn't talking to you because I had made a mistake."

"What was that?"

"I had called you Hermione."

She lifted her head and looked at him. "You can call me Hermione now," she said quietly.

"OK then, Hermione. You can call me Draco."

**A/N: OK, I know this chapter is a bit shorter than the others, but I like it this way. And for the whole kissing scene, this is my first fic, and I don't really know how to describe scenes like that. **

**But hopefully, I will update really soon, although there will probably be only two more chapters left. (If you have any ideas, tell me!)**

**Thank you so much for all of those who reviewed, and thanks to all those who read the story (but don't review). **


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews, and I would like to thank hpwwefan for giving me an idea that will hopefully make my story longer. Here's the next chapter:**

After that night with Malfoy, Hermione rarely spent time out of the Head's common room. She loved spending time with him, and getting to know more about him.

One night, they were laying on the couch in the common room, Hermione's head on his chest. They had been talking about their potion's class. Snape had been in a very foul mood lately; somebody was stealing ingredients for Polyjuice Potion. Hermione told Draco about her little encounter with the potion in her second year, (although she didn't tell him she was making it to spy on him), and she went on to tell him why she had been absent for several weeks, due to almost being turned into cat.

After a while, he asked her a question she hadn't thought of.

"Hermione, have you told anybody about – well, _us_?" She lifted her head from his chest and looked at him.

"Actually, now that you mention it, no. Should I?"

He seemed to ponder over what she had said for a moment.

"Well, I really do like you Hermione, and I don't want what we have so far to be ruined. On the other hand, I'm getting weary of keeping this a secret. I wish I could out on the castle grounds with you, and spend time together outside of this room."

"I don't think we should tell anybody." She said. "Especially Ron and Harry. They would go ballistic if they found out." An image of Ron and Harry kicking Malfoy popped into her head. She inwardly shuddered.

"Why should they overreact? I mean, it isn't as if we have done anything _serious_ yet..." He realised what he had just said, and his pale face turned slightly pink. Hermione giggled, and put her head back onto his chest.

"I don't want anything to ruin this." She said as she shut her eyes.

Hermione was sitting with Ginny in the Great hall eating dinner. She could clearly see Draco's face from the Slytherin table, and they kept sneaking glances at each other. She barely paid attention to what Ginny was telling her, something about Ron, and another girl. Hermione looked at Draco, and he waggled his eyebrows suggestively. She sputtered, her face red, and ducked under the table. She didn't emerge until she had composed herself.

"For Merlin's sake Hermione! Have you heard anything I have said to you in the last ten minutes?" Ginny snapped looking at Hermione in a very annoyed way. "What is more interesting than what I have to say?"

She noticed Hermione glance briefly in front of her, and Ginny looked up to see Malfoy talking with Zabini. Comprehension suddenly dawned on her face.

"Oh no... you guys did not-" She was cut off by Hermione pulling her arm and dragging her out of the Great Hall.

"Shh! Ginny! Please don't tell anyone!" She said with a slight tone of panic in her voice after they were safely outside in the corridor. Ginny studied Hermione as though she were looking at her for the first time.

"You have been a bit more cheery lately, and you always seem to be day dreaming. I should've known." She shook her head. "When did it start?"

Hermione blushed and looked at the floor.

"Well, we kissed on the night after the Quidditch match, and-"

"Oh! You two have been at it for a while then? Have you, you know...?"

Hermione gasped.

"No! Of course not Ginny!" She replied, blushing more.

Ginny's face was blank.

"Does anybody else know about you two?"

"Actually, I think you're the only one who knows." Hermione's comment seemed to make Ginny very happy.

"Well then! Good for you Hermione!" She said as she hugged her friend. "So, tell me, is he a good kisser?" She linked her arm with Hermione's. Hermione laughed, and they walked to the Gryffindor common room together.

Hermione was happy that Ginny had found out about her and Malfoy. It was nice to talk about her feelings and thoughts to someone other than herself. She really enjoyed talking to Ginny about Malfoy, and Ginny was just as happy to listen.

It also turned out that Ron had a new girlfriend: a sixth year from Hufflepuff. Hermione was incredibly grateful that Ron had a human form of distraction, although it meant a lot more time with Harry. Harry had been hanging out with Hermione a lot more since Ron was with his new girlfriend all the time. It was exactly as it had been when Ron was going out with Lavender Brown in their sixth year. Although Hermione really didn't mind Harry's presence, it cut off a lot of time that she could be spending with Draco.

One Friday evening, Hermione and Harry were walking to the Gryffindor common room. (Ron was nowhere to be found). She glanced at Harry's watch.

"Harry, I'm really tired, I think I'm going to go sleep early tonight."

"Oh, I thought maybe we could play some chess." He said a bit sadly.

Hermione gave him a sad smile.

"You know, why don't you ask Ginny? She may want to play."

"Well, alright then. Goodnight."

"Goodnight," She said as she turned around and walked to her dorm.

_Finally! If I hurry, I may get to talk with Draco for a bit. Poor Harry. I really need to make it clear to him that I'm not Ron. Oh well..._

She suddenly hear some yells ahead. It sounded as though someone was getting hurt. She took out her wand, and hurried to the noise.

There was a little third year Gryffindor boy on the floor, being beaten up by some fifth year Ravenclaws. He was crying and yelling out, but the Ravenclaws were muffling his yells.

"_EXPELLIARMUS!_" Hermione screamed as she waved her wand wildly. The two Ravenclaws were thrown away from the boy, and they hit the wall with a dull thud. Hermione hurried over the to the boy and bent over his small figure.

She groaned as she saw his face. His eyes were bruised, and he had a bloody lip. She gingerly grabbed his arm, and tried to help him up.

"C'mon," She said gently, "You need the Hospital Wing."

The boy refused to get up, and he began to cough. He looked up above Hermione's head, and she felt him tense up. She looked up, and saw a hooded figure. She was about to ask the figure for help, when he pointed his wand at her and yelled "Stupefy!"

Hermione woke up feeling groggy and confused. She looked around. She was in room she had never seen before: It was as large as a cathedral and it was full of old, broken objects. Her head hurt like heck, and she reached her arms up to hold it. However, her hands were tied together with Spellotape. She strained her memory to remember how she got there, but all she remembered was seeing a flash of red light and hearing the words 'stupefy'.

After resting her head for a while, she felt steady enough to walk around the large room. There was a lot of old, broken things lying around. She stumbled over a broken chair, and saw a bunch of illegal items and toys (such as fanged frisbees) littered around the floor.

After walking over some more furniture and junk, she came across the biggest bookcase she had ever seen in her life. Despite her position, and having no idea where she was, she couldn't help but smiling when she saw the bookcase. Though her hands were taped together, they were in front of her. She reached out and grabbed the newest looking book she could find. She looked around, and spotted a battered looking mattress. She sat down, and looked at the book. It was a copy of _Advanced Potion-Making_ she had last year. She frowned and opened it half-heartedly. Despite it's brand new cover, the book was written on, and it had little notes scribbled here and there.

Hermione's heart leapt. This was Harry's copy of _Advanced Potion-Making_! She turned to the first page, and it said that the book belonged to the Half-Blood Prince. She practically cried with joy; she was in the Room of Requirement.

Knowing that she was still in the castle made the situation a lot less serious, but she was worried. Will anybody notice that she disappeared? What about Draco? How long was she going to be there?

Hermione fell into an uneasy sleep. Images of the little boy getting beat up and the flash of red light kept whirling in her head. She woke up, and saw a faint light streaming in from the high windows. She guessed it was dawn. She felt her robes for her wand, but it turned out whoever had captured her had taken it.

She fell back down on the grubby mattress, and tried to remember the hooded figure. She definitely thought it was Colin, but something in the back of her mind was refusing to believe it.

_I know Colin is a bit mental, stealing my things and all, but this? I mean, I don't think he's smart enough... And the hooded figure was shorter than him. Who would do something like this??_ _Oh, I wish Draco were here..._

After what seemed like a few hours, Hermione got up to explore again. She went back to the bookcase, and grabbed another book. The book was a lot more interesting than the last, and she sat down on the spot to read it.

After several minutes of reading, her stomach began to grumble.

_Oh Merlin, how am I going to get food?? Are they going to let me starve?_

At that moment she hear a clatter, and footsteps shuffling. She jumped up and ran to the noise. She saw the door shut as soon as she reached her mattress. She looked down, and saw a plate of food. She sat down and began to eat. After eating, she noticed that they had left her a fork and knife.

_Great. Now my hands are dirty. Wait! Haha! I can use the knife to cut off the Spellotape! What an oaf, he left a knife! This person may be Colin after all..._

She awkwardly picked up the knife and held it in her feet. Carefully, she began to cut the Spellotape. After a few minutes, her hands were free. She gingerly peeled the remaining tape off her hands and sighed. Now that her hands were free, she needed a plan to get her wand. She couldn't just leave without it. What if the person caught her outside the room, and locked her away again? It really didn't help if you were a witch and had no wand.

**A/N: OK, I know this chapter is short, but I can't give out anymore than this! I'll probably update tomorrow, since today is Cinco de Mayo, and I'm going to celebrate. (Plus, I need to start working on my homework.) **


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: I reposted this chapter because I discovered some typos that really irritated me. The next chapter will come soon! **

Hermione stayed up the whole day, thinking of a way to get out of the Room of Requirement. It seemed all too easy; just running out of the door. But no, she wasn't going to fall for that. She knew there was some kind of catch, maybe someone standing guard outside? Or perhaps a trap? Without her wand she was helpless.

She looked up at the high windows. It was beginning to get dark. Hermione felt extremely curious as to what may be guarding the door outside. She quietly crept through all the junk (although she was sure nobody could hear her) and stood intently at the door for a moment as if it would attack her. She was about to reach for the handle when a thought struck her.

_What if whoever is there is invisible? I suppose they would be, if they're guarding the door outside. _

She hesitated a moment, but caved in to her feelings. She quietly opened the door, and stuck her head out, inspecting the area around her. She was a bit surprised that she didn't immediately hear a spell shot at her.

She was about to creep out of the door when a harsh voice made her nearly jump out of her skin.

"_WHAT THE BLOODY HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING? GET OUT OF MY SIGHT YOU LITTLE GITS!_"

Hermione frowned at the harsh voice (who thankfully was not directed at her), and heard the shuffles of what she could only guess were frightened first years' feet. The voice sounded very familiar. It almost sounded like-

"Draco!" Hermione squealed as she skipped to Draco, who just rounded the corner, looking extremely angry.

"Oh, thank Merlin I found you!" She said as she tried to hug him. He backed away offensively.

"What is it _Granger_?" He asked angrily. Hermione faltered. Why did he sound so angry?

"Draco? What's wrong? And why are you calling me Granger?"

Malfoy looked confused for a moment. The nasty expression then returned to his face.

"Don't act all naïve Granger. You know very well why I'm acting like this. And for the record, I shouldn't even be talking to you."

Hermione was extremely confused. "But Draco, what could I have done to make you upset? I was trapped in the Room of Requirement all day yesterday!" She felt tears coming to her eyes. She was so frustrated.

"What in hell are you talking about?" He asked, extremely annoyed. "You were in the common room yesterday, and today! You were in there when I left!" Hermione suddenly heard some footsteps coming their way.

"Quick, follow me!" She whispered urgently as she grabbed his wrist and ran to a deserted corridor.

Hermione peeked from out of the corridor. A stout figure was walking toward the empty stretch of wall where the Room of Requirement was hidden behind. He was holding a plate of food, and was looking extremely shifty.

"Granger what the-"

"Shh!" Hermione snapped quietly. She turned her attention back to the figure. A door had appeared, and he entered it, leaving it slightly ajar. After a while, she heard a yell.

"DAMMIT!" The voice inside swore. The stout person rushed out of the room, slamming the door behind him. He ran down the corridor, past Hermione and Malfoy's hiding place, and practically flew down the steps.

Hermione sighed in relief. She turned back to Malfoy, who was looking at her as though she were some bizarre creature.

"Granger, what the hell is going on?" She sat down, and motioned for him to do the same. He hesitated, as thought the floor were made of mud, but followed suit.

"I think that was the person who kidnapped me." She said. Malfoy looked at her, bewildered.

"What are you talking about Granger?! You were in the freaking common room the whole time!"

"No I wasn't!" She snapped back.

"Yes you were! You weren't talking to me, and when I asked you what was wrong, you told me you didn't want to '_pursue our relationship any further_'!"

Hermione was about to heatedly retort when what he said registered in her head. She lowered her voice. "I didn't say that. I would never say that."

Malfoy grabbed his hair (which was now not neatly gelled back as it usually was) and pulled it. It looked as though hew wanted to say something, but was struggling with some kind of internal conflict. He sighed, and looked defeated.

"Then please, _please_, tell me what the hell is going on before my head explodes."

Hermione proceeded to tell him the events that happened on Friday night, and how she discovered she was trapped in the Room of Requirement.

"- and when I looked outside, I heard a yell. It turned out to be you." She leaned her head against the hard cement wall. Draco looked at her, not wanting to believe her story.

"Prove its really you." He said. Hermione was taken aback at his request, but shook it away.

"Well, the last few weeks we've been – erm, _closer_ than a regular Head Boy and Girl would be," she was beginning to blush, "and our first kiss was on the night of the Quidditch match." Her face now resembled a tomato. She pointedly stared at the ground.

Malfoy stood up, and put his hand out. She looked up at him, and grabbed his hand. He helped her up, then pulled her in a tight embrace. She felt him sigh with relief. Hermione enjoyed being in his arms; she felt safe again.

"Malfoy," she said after a while, "how did you know it was me?"

She felt him chuckle. "Whenever we were together, you would always blush. It didn't matter what I said. It was almost like your _signature move_." She felt her face go red again.

"So if I'm here, then who's in our common room right now?" She asked. Malfoy pulled away, and grinned at her.

"Lets go see."

They walked quickly to their dorms. "Draco, who were you yelling at earlier?" She asked curiously.

"Er – some first years." He said cautiously. Hermione scoffed in disapproval.

"Did they do anything to you?"

"Er – well not exactly. After you – well, I suppose the fake you – broke up with me, I've been a _tad_ more angry than usual." He laughed awkwardly, and sped up his pace. Hermione inwardly disapproved of him taking out his anger on others, but felt a bit flattered that he would be angry if they were to break up.

They reached the portrait hole, where the warlock and goblin were having a heated discussion about who won their last chess game.

"Devil's Snare." Malfoy said to the warlock.

"Yes, yes," The warlock said impatiently, opening the portrait. He stopped bickering with the goblin and looked at Hermione strangely. "Aren't you already in ther-"

"Shut up!" Malfoy said sharply. The warlock looked offended, but said nothing further. Malfoy walked in first, checking to see if it was safe for Hermione to enter. He nodded his head and she quietly walked in. He pointed to behind the couch. She nodded, and hid behind it.

Malfoy cleared his throat. "Granger! Get down here, _Sainted Potter_ wants to see you!" A muffled answer came from Hermione's room. "Get down here, or I'll take care of him myself!"

Hermione heard footsteps, and saw the ankles of her imposter from under the couch.

"Where's Harry? Did you let him in?" The fake Hermione asked.

Malfoy snorted, and the fake Hermione walked to the portrait hole to look outside. When her back was turned, Malfoy took out his wand. The fake Hermione turned back to Malfoy.

"There's no one outside. Why did you tell-"

"Petrificus Totalus!" Malfoy yelled. The fake Hermione fell to the floor with a thud. Hermione crawled out from behind the couch, and stood up next to Malfoy who was inspecting the person on the floor. Hermione looked down at her imposter.

_Dear Merlin! I hope this person hasn't been wandering the halls lately! They're making me look like a zombie! Or is that how I normally look?..._

The Hermione on the floor looked up at the two Heads with terrified eyes.

"I should've been able to tell the difference." Malfoy said quietly after a while. "This Hermione-" He pointed at the one on the floor "-is so much different than you. I feel like such an idiot," he shook his head slowly. "I guess this proves we need to spend more time together." He grinned sheepishly.

Hermione smiled, but was distracted when the figure on the floor began to transform.

Hermione's slender figure began to expand upward, and her shoulders became broader. Her hair shrunk, and turned dirty blonde. The buttons on her robes strained, for the person who was in them was much too large for them. Hermione gasped. What shocked her was not really _who_ it was, but the fact that it was a boy.

_Ew ew ew ew ew!! I mean seriously? A boy??_

She looked at Malfoy. He seemed to be thinking the same thing.

"I'll tie him up." Malfoy said, grabbing the nearest chair. "We'll need to ask him some _questions_." He emphasized the word 'questions' maliciously, and the petrified boy eye's shone with fear.

"But Draco, he'll lie." Hermione said. Malfoy pondered this for a moment before he responded.

"I have some Veritaserum. Go up to my room, and open the drawer next to my bed. It's wrapped in a silk handkerchief."

Hermione felt a little overwhelmed at his request. She had never been in his room before, and it meant a lot to her that he allowed her to go in by herself. She quickly ran up his staircase, and slowly opened the door. His room was decorated with green and silver, and there was a giant serpent on his bed. There were also a lot of clothes strewn about; his robes, socks, and boxers lay on the floor. For some strange reason, it also smelled very man-like. Hermione blushed, and carefully made her way to the night stand by his bed. She opened the drawer, and found the little bottle wrapped in silk. She hurried back to the common room.

When she got there, Malfoy had tied the boy to the chair. The boy was struggling – he was obviously un-petrified. She handed Malfoy the bottle, and he opened it carefully.

"Hold it for a sec-" He muttered as he handed the open bottle to Hermione.

Malfoy pointed his wand at the boy and the his mouth suddenly opened. He took the bottle from Hermione and poured a few drops of the clear liquid down the boy's throat. Malfoy sealed the bottle and pocketed it. He unfroze the boy who was coughing and sputtering.

"What's your name?" Malfoy asked.

"Alex Cardin." The boy replied in a dull voice.

"What house are you in?"

"Ravenclaw." Hermione gasped. He was one of the two boys who were beating up the little boy on Friday. Cardin looked at Hermione interestedly.

"Why were you beating up a little boy on Friday?" Hermione asked. The boy struggled to not to answer, but the potion seemed to be causing him pain.

"I – I was put up to it." He said, looking angry at himself. Hermione raised her eyebrows.

"By who?" Again, Cardin struggled to answer the question.

"By Colin Creevey." Hermione felt Draco shift uncomfortably behind her.

"Did he say why he wanted you to do it?"

"No. He just told me when and where."

"What did you get out of it?" Hermione asked, raising her voice in anger. "Hurting a little child?"

Cardin looked uncomfortable. "Well, it wasn't everyday I was asked to do something like that. I would have refused, but..."

"But what?"

"He paid me. It was a pretty good price too, so I didn't refuse." Draco snorted. Hermione looked at the boy in shock and disgust.

"You beat him up because he _paid _you? That is sick!" The boy smirked.

"What?!" She snapped. She didn't think it was at all the appropriate time to smirk.

"Well, the strange thing was that Creevey paid me to beat up his brother."

Hermione gasped. She didn't recognize the little boy; his face was too bruised.

"Little Dennis Creevey?" She asked quietly.

"Yes." Cardin responded dully. Hermione sat down on the couch. Malfoy, who was skulking in the shadows resumed the interrogation.

"Why did – who kidnapped Hermione?" He asked. Cardin struggled against the tight ropes.

"I don't know."

Malfoy looked as though he didn't believe him, but continued.

"Why did you _pretend_ to be her? And why did you break up with me?" Hermione giggled inwardly at Malfoy's reluctance to ask the question.

"After Creevey paid me to beat up his brother, he gave me some Polyjuice Potion. He told me the Head Girl's hair was in it. He gave me the password to your common room, and he told me what to do."

"And what was that?"

"He told me I was to 'break up' with the Head Boy, and to ignore him as much as I could."

"Did he tell you why?"

"No. And I didn't care. I was getting paid." He smirked again. Malfoy lifted his arm to punch the boy, but Hermione jumped up from the couch and grabbed his hand.

"Don't." She warned.

He reluctantly put his arm down.

"OK, I think the potion will wear down in a bit. I'll put a weak memory charm on him, so he doesn't tell Creevey anything."

Hermione nodded, although she wasn't too comfortable with the idea of modifying someone's memory.

Cardin began protesting, and squirmed against the tight ropes. Malfoy gave him no mercy.

"Obliviate!" He yelled as he waved him arm around. Cardin's eyes fluttered, and his head lolled to side as he was knocked unconscious.

"Untie him, while I put the potion away." Malfoy said as he ran up to his room. Hermione untied Cardin and healed his red wrists. She felt extremely guilty. Although Cardin didn't seem like a very nice person, she was Head Girl. And the Head Girl wasn't supposed to be involved in any kind of activity having to do with interrogating and tampering with peoples memories.

Malfoy came down.

"Er – I'll bring him to the Hospital Wing. I'll say I found him on the floor." He levitated Cardin's limp body off the ground, and carefully manoeuvred him out the portrait hole and to the Hospital Wing.

Hermione went up to her room. It was a mess. All her clothes were lying around, and her underwear drawer was open. Cardin had obviously been rummaging in it. A part of her told her that Cardin got what he deserved. After a quick 'Scourgify', her room was as good as new. She grabbed some pyjamas, and ran to the shower.

Malfoy was already in the common room when she arrived.

"What did Madame Pomfrey say?" Hermione asked as she walked down the stairs.

"Nothing really. She never asks questions much."

Hermione sat down on the couch next to him.

"I'm so glad you're back," Malfoy said, kissing her, "and thank Merlin I didn't kiss Cardin when he was pretending to be you." He shuddered dramatically. Hermione laughed.

"So tell me, how come you have a bottle of Veritaserum?" She asked, smirking.

Draco grinned. "Sometimes being Snape's favourite comes in handy." He casually stretched his arms out in front of him. Hermione laughed.

"Yes, but now, we have another problem on our hands." She pointed out.

"What? Do you want a bottle of Veritaserum from Snape too?" He asked playfully.

"No. I'm talking about Creevey." Malfoy groaned.

"Lets _not_ talk about him right now." He said tiredly. "We'll worry about that git later." He yawned, and laid his head on Hermione's shoulder.

"I suppose so..." She said quietly, stroking Draco's hair. "What do-" Hermione looked at Malfoy, who was sleeping soundly on her shoulder. She smiled, and resumed stroking his hair.

**A/N: The chapter is over!!!! But I will update within the week. Stay tuned for what happens next!**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Here's the next chapter:**

Hermione woke up on Sunday earlier then one would on the weekend. Being trapped in the Room of Requirement postponed all the time she could have been spending doing her homework. She was reviewing her Transfiguration essay when a tired looking Malfoy came down from him room a few hours later.

"Hermione," he said yawning, and eyeing the pile of papers in front of her, "what are you doing?"

Hermione rolled her eyes as if she were doing the most obvious thing in the world.

"I'm so behind on my studies! I have to do the essay Snape gave us, and I _still_ have to do my Arithmancy homework!"

"You were only gone for one day! And that essay Snape gave us isn't due for another week!" He said in shock.

Hermione threw daggers at him with her eyes. "Trust me. One day can affect everything."

Malfoy laughed, and stood next to her, inspecting her three-foot essay. "I'm going down for breakfast. You want something?"

"Some coffee. And toast." She replied as she busily searched the mound of papers on the desk for something.

Malfoy patted her back. "Alright, I'll be up soon."

By the time Malfoy came back up, Hermione had finished her Arithmancy, and was beginning to do Snape's essay.

He entered the portrait hole, and put her coffee and toast next to her.

"Guess who I came across when I was coming back?" He asked in an amused voice.

"Who?" Hermione said absent mindedly, scribbling out the sentence she just wrote.

"Potty and Weasel."

She frowned at his use of childish nicknames. "Did they say anything?"

"They wanted to know where you were, and they told me that they'll kill me if I had done anything to you." He responded in a bored tone, picking at a spot on his finger.

Hermione sighed. "I'll go down to the common room later today and tell them everything's OK." She turned to Malfoy. "But you'll have to walk me there. I'm not going anywhere alone from now on."

He nodded. "I think I'll go play some Quidditch with Zabini. We can go when I get back." He went up to his room to retrieve his Quidditch gear, and she went back to her essay.

Hermione and Draco walked up to the Gryffindor common room together. The sight of them walking together caused many curious stares. Malfoy was getting quite irritated, and he actually yelled at a couple of second years for whispering.

"What're you whispering about? I'm the _Head Boy_, and she's the _Head Girl_! Now go away before I dock points from your house!" The second years scampered off, looking scandalized at the sound getting points off for whispering.

Hermione stopped when she was near the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Er – here's my stop. I'll come back to our common room with Harry or Ron." She shifted on the spot. "I won't tell them anything important, and I'll try to make it quick. But if Ginny's there, I doubt that I'll be able to-"

Malfoy was about to lean down and kiss her when she urgently backed away.

"What're you doing?!" She whispered, her face turning red. "Someone could see us! Go-" She pushed Malfoy in the direction of the staircase "-and I'll meet you in a bit!"

He smiled cheekily, and proceeded to go down the steps.

She turned the corner, and walked up to the portrait of the Fat Lady. She said the password, and the Fat Lady smiled at her. "I haven't seen you in a while deary!" She said as she swung open the portrait hole. "Head Girl duties keeping you busy?" She winked. Hermione smiled, and entered the portrait hole.

Harry and Ron were sitting by the fireplace. They were talking about Ron's now former girlfriend.

"You're such a flake Ron, you always back away when you're sensing they're getting serious!" Harry said heatedly to Ron.

"Yea, well, I'm not exactly ready for commitment!" Ron retorted, his face as red as his hair. Hermione sat down on an armchair next to him.

"So I take it Ron and whats her name are over then?" She said amusedly.

"Yes," Harry said angrily, staring at Ron.

"Why so angry Harry?" Hermione asked, "You weren't like this when Ron broke up with Lavender last year."

"Well, Lavender, she was annoying. But Lynn, she was _normal._ And she didn't stick to him like glue either." Ron mumbled something indistinguishable, and turned his attention to Hermione.

"Where have you been? You didn't see us yesterday, and today we saw Malfoy bring food up to your dorm."

"I've just been really busy with my studies and all-" She waved her hand carelessly "-nothing to worry about. And as for Malfoy, he was bringing food up for himself. Don't worry. I can take care of myself."

Ron smiled weakly. "Alright. Its just a bit strange, you not being with us all the time."

"Yeah," Harry said. "We haven't talked – I mean _really_ talked in a while."

"So lets talk, then."

After almost an hour of fun conversation (most of which involved bashing Professors Snape and Trelawney) Colin Creevey walked into the portrait hole of the common room. He stopped, and stared at Hermione for a brief moment before sitting at a table in the far end of the room. He looked tired and stressed out.

Harry leaned toward Hermione. "Do you know whats up with him? He hasn't been acting – well – like himself lately."

Ron snorted. Harry cast him a look that clearly said 'shut up'.

Hermione shifted in her chair. She could feel Colin staring at her. "Erm – not really. I don't have time to study his odd behaviours."

"What happened since that day when you – uh – talked to him?" Harry whispered.

"Nothing. He hasn't talked to me since. And I haven't talked to him either."

"You know what I've been hearing?" Harry asked very quietly, causing Ron to crane his neck to hear the conversation more clearly. "I've been hearing that he's been having rows with his friends from other houses. Like this kid Cardin,-" Hermione cast a guilty glance around the room, "-Ernie Macmillan told me he found them fighting. Actually, Creevey was the one fighting. Macmillan said that he had to pull him off the kid. He was fighting like a maniac."

She coughed, no longer wanting to talk about Colin when he was in the room. She stood up. "Um, you know Harry, I think I'll go back to my dorm. I think I still have some homework I have to finish." She heard Colin's chair slide against the floor.

"Want to walk me there?" She asked quickly.

"We'll both go," Ron said, standing up. "You never know what surprises Malfoy could have." He added in an undertone to Harry with a dark look on his face. Hermione hurried out of the common room with Harry and Ron at her tail.

After a hasty goodbye, Hermione was back in her common room. She hard a hard time shaking off the feeling of Colin's eyes on her. What Harry had told her was very troubling; Cardin had failed to do what Creevey wanted him to, and he got hurt for it.

_That isn't normal. People like Colin should be locked up or something. He could do something serious._

She needed to talk to Malfoy, but he wasn't in the common room.

Nervously, Hermione walked up Malfoy's staircase and knocked on his door, waiting intently. She heard him yell something incoherent, and after a few moments he opened the door, towelling his wet hair.

"Er – I think I'll – um – I'll wait downstairs – you have no shirt on – er – I'll go." She stammered as her face turned scarlet. Malfoy grinned and grabbed her hand.

"Haha, Hermione calm down. Come in." He said, walking to his cabinet. He opened a drawer and put on a shirt. "Sit." He pointed to his neat bed.

Hermione half-heartedly sat on his bed. He sat down next to her.

"So, you were gone for quite a while," He said throwing his towel behind him. "Anything happen that I would be interested in?"

"Actually, that's what I wanted to talk to you about. I saw Colin today, for the first time in a while. He looked terrible, like he hadn't slept in days." Draco's expression hardened.

"Did he do anything?"

"Well, of course he didn't, Harry and Ron were there. But he sat away from us, and I could feel him staring at me. It was so unnerving." She gave a little shudder. Malfoy put his arm around her protectively. "Harry told me that he's been acting oddly. And he also told me Macmillan found Creevey beating up Cardin."

Malfoy raised his eyebrows. "You mean Macmillan, that Hufflepuff prefect?"

Hermione nodded.

"I'll ask him about that..." he said, staring down at the floor. They didn't speak for a while, each in their own thoughts.

_This whole ordeal with Colin is eating up so much of my time and energy! I mean, this is my last year! I'm supposed to enjoy it, and I will! This has to end now. _

Malfoy sighed, and held her closer to him. "I'm really getting tired of that little prick interfering with our lives."

"I know. This has to end. I don't know how we're going to make him stop. I mean, its not like we can just go up him him and say 'can you leave us alone please?' This needs some planning."

"I have a foolproof idea." Malfoy said, grinning.

"What?"

"Well, he could always get into a terrible 'accident', and get fatally injured."

Hermione gasped. "No Draco. As much as I don't like Creevey, I would never wish death upon him."

Malfoy shrugged. "It's just a thought,"

"Hmph. I'll try and think of something by the end of the week. You should too, but nothing where he gets fatally injured." She added at the look on Malfoy's face.

"Alright, alright. I'll see what I can do." He stood up, leading Hermione out of his room. "But for now, lets go 'study'." He smirked, and Hermione turned scarlet once again.

"Alright." She replied, flustered.

Over the next week, Hermione contemplated ways of getting Colin to leave her alone. Sadly, she was thinking along the same lines as Malfoy: She couldn't find a way of getting rid of Creevey with out him getting incredibly injured, or killed.

But on Thursday night at dinner, Hermione got an idea from Ginny.

Ginny was asking Hermione about what was going on with Colin.

"Well, I always walk down the halls with you, Draco, Harry or Ron." Hermione said, taking a bite of her food.

"So you're saying that if you walk down the halls alone, he'll attack you?"

Hermione hadn't told her about being trapped in the Room of Requirement. "I'm not sure, but I don't want to take any chances."

"No wonder I never see him anywhere anymore. He probably spends all his time following you. You should be careful, even if you are with someone else."

"Oh my gosh Ginny!" Hermione practically leaped out of her seat with excitement.

"What?!" Ginny asked, alarmed, choking on her food.

"You just gave me an idea!" She said wiping her mouth quickly. "I need to talk to Draco." She looked over at the Slytherin table. Malfoy was absorbed in a conversation with Zabini. He looked up after a while and caught Hermione's eye. She tilted her head in the direction of the doors, and he nodded.

"Ginny, will you wait with me outside until Malfoy meets us?"

"Sure." She stood up. "What is this all about anyway?"

"I'll tell you later. I promise." Ginny looked unhappy with the idea of not knowing what was going on at the second, but she walked Hermione out to the Entrance Hall nevertheless. After a few moments Malfoy appeared.

"Good. I need to talk to you." He said.

"Same here. Lets go to the common room." She said.

Ginny cleared her throat. "Can I please know what is going on?" She asked, sounding a bit annoyed.

"Not now, later," Hermione said going in the direction of her common room.

"I bet it isn't even anything important," Ginny said, walking back to the Great Hall, "probably some excuse for a snog session..."

Hermione and Draco walked quickly to their common room, trying not to call much attention to themselves. It wasn't that hard since almost everybody in the castle was at dinner.

They quickly entered their common room, earning a suspicious glance from the warlock and goblin, and sat down on the couch.

"What did you want to say?" Hermione said hurriedly.

"I have a way to get rid of Creevey, with out him getting killed." He smiled like a little boy who accomplished something grand.

Hermione positively beamed.

"Well, I don't exactly have a way to get rid of him, but I know a way we can get him." She said.

"Yes, that's good, because I want to ask him questions. I still have more Veritaserum, you know." He grinned.

"OK, so tell me, how are we going to do this?"

"Well, at dinner, Zabini was telling me something very interesting..."

**A/N: Yay! OK, from here, there are probably two chapters left. And just a little FYI, when Draco tells Hermione "lets go 'study'", it only refers to snogging. That's all. **


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Thanks for all the good reviews! There's a bit more swearing than usual in this chapter, so just a small warning. Here it is:**

Hermione and Draco were patrolling the fifth-floor corridors, holding hands.

"You know what?" Hermione asked, grinning.

"What?" Malfoy asked.

"Patrolling has become one of my favourite things to do." Her cheeks turned red as she said that.

Malfoy smirked. "Of course it is." He said as they turned a corner. "Do you know what my favourite thing to do is?"

"Hm... I'm not sure. Enlighten me." Hermione replied, knowing very well what Malfoy was going to do.

He pulled Hermione behind a statue and they began kissing. After a few moments, Malfoy pulled back.

"What?" Hermione asked a bit flustered.

"I forgot the Veritaserum! If we're going to get him, we need it now." He swiftly turned from Hermione and ran in the direction of their dorms. "I'll be back soon. Watch out!" He called from behind him.

She sighed. This was the first time she had been in the castle by herself. She began walking down the corridor, straining her ears for any sound.

_Where are you Creevey? I know you're here..._

She turned a corner, and was approaching a large tapestry. She gripped her wand tightly and tried to walk past the tapestry as fast as she could with out making much noise.

She barely took three steps when somebody jumped from behind the tapestry. Hermione lifter her wand to hex the person, but he was faster.

_Bingo!_

"Petrificus Totalus!" Said the voice. Hermione froze, and fell on the floor with a thud. The person stood above her. It was Colin Creevey. He had a mad, triumphant look on his face.

"Your boyfriend isn't very bright, is he?" Colin asked, looking positively ecstatic. "He should know better than to leave you alone."

Hermione looked at him with frightened eyes.

"I know very well what you and your little boyfriend are up to." He snorted. "But it didn't work, did it? I got you, Hermione Granger, 'smartest with of her age', trapped." He laughed maniacally.

_OK Draco, now!_

Creevey bent over to pick up her wand when a voice came from behind them.

"Stupefy!" Malfoy said as he came walking out from the shadows. Colin toppled over, unconscious.

"Finite Incantatem." He said, pointing his wand at Hermione. He helped her up. "You alright?"

"Yes." She said rubbing her back. "I didn't know getting petrified could hurt so much though."

Malfoy looked at the heap on the floor with hate.

"Our rounds are over." He said. "We'll take him to our common room." he levitated Colin, and began manoeuvring him to their dorms. Hermione followed Malfoy and the floating Creevey, happy their plan worked.

They reached the portrait hole and Malfoy said the password. The warlock looked at them in shock. "What are you doing? Take that boy to the Hospital Wing!" He said, the Goblin nodding at his side.

Malfoy pointed his wand at the warlock, causing Colin to crash onto the floor. "Let us in. I said the password."

"I will have to tell the Headmaster about this!" The warlock said, jumping from his armchair.

"You will do no such thing!" Malfoy said in a low whisper, making the warlock falter. "You will let us in, and you will tell nobody of this. Do you want to end up like the Fat Lady when Sirius Black attacked her?"

The warlock looked at Malfoy fearfully, and opened the portrait hole. Colin was back in the air with a swish of Malfoy's wand, and Hermione followed them in, giving the warlock an apologetic look.

"Lets get this over with." Malfoy said, obviously irritated. He put Colin on a chair (rather roughly Hermione noticed) and bound him with magical ropes.

He sat down on the couch and rubbed his temples tiredly. Hermione sat next to him, sighing.

"It's almost over Draco." She said.

He turned to her. "Thank Merlin. I don't think I can deal with this fiasco any longer."

He took the bottle of Veritaserum from his pocket, and poured a few drops down Colin's throat. Colin began sputtering, and he regained consciousness.

"Wha-" He said, looking around the room. After a few moments he realized where he was. "Shit!" he swore. "How the bloody hell did this happen?" He struggled against the tight ropes.

Malfoy smirked evilly. "It seems Hermione's boyfriend isn't so stupid after all _Creevey_." He began pacing around Colin. Hermione couldn't help but notice how Slytherin he looked at that moment.

Colin looked at Malfoy with a deep loathing. "Well, you're not getting anything out of me Malfoy. And when I get out of here, you're gonna pay!"

Malfoy laughed at his words. "What are you going to do? Call your little friends to beat me up? Oh wait. That's right, you have no friends!"

"Fuck you." Creevey said in a low voice. Malfoy took his wand out in a flash, and pointed it at Colin's heart.

"Want to run that by me again?" He sneered. Hermione got up, and pushed Malfoy away. He straightened his robes and sat down.

"Creev-" Hermione began.

"I'm not saying anything!" He practically yelled.

"Well, you have no freaking choice, alright?!" Hermione yelled. Colin faltered. Her eyes gleamed with anger.

"You are going to answer all my questions whether you like it or not! First of all, you are under the influence of Veritaserum, and secondly, I can jinx you back to your ancestor's grave, you got that?" Colin said nothing.

"First off," she said, running a hand through her messy hair, "why me Colin, why me? I mean, you could choose anybody else, but _me_?"

Colin's face suddenly became expressionless, and he began talking as though he were a robot. "At first, I would obsess over Harry, and his fame. But Potter shunned me away. I always saw you, kind to everybody you met, and very kind to younger students." He took a shaky breath. "I thought that you would like me, pity me even. So I gave it a chance."

Hermione scolded herself.

"OK... why did you send me letters? And why did you give them to Draco?"

"I sent you letters because by sending them to you, I made myself feel better. Like there was something going on. I also sent them because I knew he-" he glared in Malfoy's direction and Malfoy promptly flicked him off, "might say something about it. You know how ridiculous this bloody school gets when it comes to rumours. I could have used it to my advantage."

"And the letter about the Hospital Wing? What the hell was that for?" Hermione asked, her face pink.

Colin smiled. "I know very well you didn't visit me, but I just sent it so that he would read it." He tilted his head in Malfoy's direction. Hermione took a calming breath, and leaned against the table.

Out of curiosity she asked, "On that day you got hurt, the day the Slytherins were having Quidditch try-outs – why were you there? I mean, not many people, especially Gryffindors, would hang around there at the time."

Colin really looked as though he wanted to vomit. It was obvious he didn't want to answer that particular question, but the Veritaserum forced him to.

"I – I knew that Potter and Weasley were in the Great Hall, and you weren't there. It could only mean you were in your room." His haste to answer the question made Hermione even more curious. "And, well, even though the Slytherins were practising at the time, I decided to take a broom and-"

Hermione knew what he was going to say. She didn't even pay attention to Colin's stuttering. She had an excellent view of the Quidditch pitch, and somehow he knew that. He had taken the broom to fly up, and spy on her.

_Merlin Hermione, why didn't you see this before? When Ginny told you, it should've been obvious from the start!_

She looked at Colin with hate. Malfoy spoke up. "Hermione, I was the one who hit Creevey in the head with the bludger." She turned to him. "I saw him flying, but I didn't know what he was doing. I just thought Potter had sent him to spy on us." He sighed. "And he had his camera around his neck."

Hermione turned to Colin. "That explains how you got those pictures of me... And the others, I suppose you were spying on me behind statues and tapestires."

"Yes." Colin said.

This just made Hermione angrier. "And that envelope full of pictures? Were you making a scrapbook?" She yelled.

Colin's face was expressionless. "I had been taking pictures of you, but I had no intention of showing them to anybody."

"Well what made you send them to Draco?" She asked heatedly.

"There was one night when you two were patrolling, a while ago now that I think of it, where you were about to kiss _him_. This was very shocking for me because one would never think that Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger would have feelings other than hate towards each other."

He took a deep breath.

"This depressed me deeply, and that is when I began to obsess over you Hermione." He looked up at her, his face pale, and he grinned. "I knew that somehow I would have to get you back, to be _mine_, but I couldn't think of anything. Then one night I decided that I could send the pictures to Malfoy, along with the rest of your things. Make him feel that you're to much trouble for him. I mean what kind of guy would like to date a girl with a stalker? I mean, a stalker who harasses the boyfriend as well?"

Hermione was having a hard time catching on. "You mean, you were trying to scare him out of being with me?"

"If you want to say it like that, then yes." Colin said.

Malfoy stood up. "If you didn't notice Creevey, your abnormal behaviours has caused Hermione and I to _get_ together."

"Of course I noticed that you imbecile!" Colin said heatedly. "That is why I had to come up with another plan to keep you two apart. It was a brilliant plan, and it would've worked if I had the right people doing it..." He trailed off.

"That brings us to our next topic of discussion," Hermione said sourly. "The Room of Requirement. Your brother. And Alex Cardin." Colin squirmed against the ropes. "Care to explain?"

"That _was_ my brilliant plan." Colin said bitterly. "My brother was merely a distraction-"

"But why did you choose to beat him up? Your own brother?" Hermione cut in.

"Because who else would I find? He was the only one who would do it for me. I told him he would be doing me a favour, and that if he didn't do it, I would be expelled from school."

Draco snorted from his corner, and muttered something that sounded like 'pathetic'.

Colin ignored him. "Alex Cardin is in my year and I have a few classes with him. I know that he has a poor family, so I offered to give him some money."

"In exchange to beat up your own brother." Hermione said. Colin nodded.

"He was uneasy about hurting my brother, in case he would get expelled. I persuaded him, and I even got him to get someone else to help with the plan."

"So who was the boy who actually stupefyed me and put me in the Room of Requirement?" Hermione asked.

"A boy from Hufflepuff. Yes, I know shocking," he added at the look on Hermione's face.

_What is this world coming to? Hufflepuffs being violent??_

"But what was the whole point of trapping me? That only made me hate you more." She said pointedly.

Colin sighed angrily. "I specifically had it so that the person who kidnapped you was _not_ me. So even if you had some suspicions about me doing it, you couldn't confirm it. The boy was to trap you somewhere discreet, and he did. What he _didn't_ do was keep a watch on you twenty-four-seven, and he didn't even put a fucking locking charm on the door!"

Hermione backed away, and she felt Draco's hand on her back.

"The whole point was so that you were kidnapped by an unknown person, and that I would find you and rescue you." Colin finished.

"What? You thought that by rescuing me, I would _like _you?" She said, shocked.

"Yes." Colin said simply. "And that's why I had Cardin pretend to be you. I was the one stealing the ingredients for Polyjuice Potion from Snape. I had made the potion with great difficulty, but I made it nonetheless. I gave the potion to Cardin with the hair I had gotten from you."

"And what were your instructions to him?" Hermione asked.

"I told him that he – you – was to break up with pretty boy-" He shot Malfoy a nasty look, "-and to ignore him as much as possible. Make him feel unwanted. This tied in perfectly with my plan because if Malfoy was being mean to you, I would be the person whose shoulder you could cry on. Not only would I have saved you from the Room of Requirement, but I would be there to comfort you as well."

Hermione didn't say anything. All the information was overwhelming. He did all that, just to be with her? He had some kind of mental disorder.

"But as I had already said, I hadn't chosen the right people for my plan, so it failed."

"So that's why you beat up Cardin. Out of frustration." She said.

"Yes. I wasn't getting much sleep, and I was failing a lot of my exams. When he told me he had failed to do what I wanted him to, I snapped."

"Is that all?" Malfoy said in an annoyed voice.

Colin opened his mouth to yell something, but Hermione pointed her wand at him, and he went unconscious once again.

"After all this, I'm not going to regret what we're going to do to him." She told Draco. He kissed her, and they got up, ready to end everything.

**A/N:** **I'm sooooo sorry for the long update, but this chapter was the hardest chapter to write, because I had to take account of everything that had happened so far in the story. The next chapter will be the last chapter. And it will probably be shorter than this chapter. **

**Thanks so much for reading, I'll update soon.**


	10. Chapter 10

"You take Creevey. I'm going to have a little chat with the warlock."

Hermione looked worried. "Draco, don't do anything _bad._ I know we want this to be over, but don't do anything we'll regret, alright?"

"Don't worry. Just go up, and I'll meet you there." He squeezed her hand in a reassuring way, and opened the portrait hole.

Hermione waved her wand, and Colin was in the air, dangling limply. She quickly made her way to the staircase with Colin in the lead, in the direction of the Hospital Wing.

_We really are lucky. This ties in perfectly, being in the path to the Hospital Wing and all._

She walked silently, keeping an eye on Colin every now and then, to make sure he was still unconscious. After a while she heard foot steps. She tensed up, and quickly hid behind a statue.

_Why am I being so paranoid? I'm Head Girl, and I'm going in the direction of the Hospital Wing. Whoever it is, they won't be suspicious. I'll just tell them I'm taking him to Madame Pomfrey. And besides, they shouldn't even be out this late at night._

She reluctantly stepped out of the shadows, and continued walking slowly to her destination. The footsteps became louder, and she saw to her relief, Draco walking swiftly towards her.

"I thought I'd lost you," He said, a little out of breath.

"What happened with the warlock?" Hermione asked.

"It's taken care of. We won't be in trouble, don't worry."

They walked quickly up the stairs, listening for people who may be wandering the halls at night. Hermione, caught up in her thoughts, almost forgot to stop at the right place. Malfoy held out his arm to keep her from walking any farther.

"Oh, we're here already?" She asked, coming out of her daze. "Alright then, lets get this over with."

Malfoy waved his wand, and the chains that locked the cabinet broke free. He picked up Colin's limp form, and proceeded to stuff it into the cabinet. He looked up at Hermione in an annoyed sort of way.

"A little help here? This prat isn't as light as he looks."

Hermione stood still, twirling her hair nervously. "Draco, I don't know about this. I mean, this is violating everything I stand for." He looked at her in shock. "What if we get caught?" She added in a whispered.

He stopped stuffing Colin into the cabinet, and stood up. He hugged Hermione tightly, and laid her head on his shoulder.

"Hermione, do you really want this to continue? Think about the last few weeks. Can you honestly tell me you were one hundred percent fine back then? That you were not worried, and you lived in peace?"

Hermione didn't answer.

After a while she sighed, and said, "You're right. If I want this to end, I can't back out now."

Malfoy smiled weakly, and continued putting Colin in the cabinet.

"And as for getting caught, that isn't going to happen," He said confidently after a while.

"How?"

He pointed his wand at Colin, and cast a non-verbal spell.

Hermione frowned. "What did you do?"

"I cast a small Memory Charm on him," Malfoy responded casually.

Hermione said nothing, although she didn't agree with what he did. They finally got Colin in all the way, and they stood back to see how he looked.

"Draco, what if he dies in there? Won't he starve?"

Malfoy pondered what she said for a moment. "No, I expect he'll live. Montague survived."

"Yes, but Montague was rather... _troll like_, and Colin, well," She glanced at Colin with pity, "He's not as big as him."

Malfoy laughed at Hermione's words. "Yes, he was quite like a troll, I suppose..."

She hesitantly looked at Colin, and conjured up a few pieces of toast. She threw them into the cabinet with him.

Malfoy looked at her strangely, but he merely shrugged, and closed the door of the cabinet quickly. Hermione waved her wand, and the chains repaired themselves around the cabinet.

"So... that's it," She said after a short pause. "No more worrying." She stood, staring blankly at the Vanishing Cabinet.

She didn't expect to feel happy, or relieved. But she was. She was happy beyond words. This whole ordeal was behind her...

But what she really didn't expect was for Malfoy to pick her up, and practically skip with joy to the common room. Hermione giggled all the way there, blushing furiously. She had never had anybody pick her up before, let alone a boy. A hot boy at that.

Draco practically sang the password to the warlock who smiled fearfully, and opened the portrait hole.

"Draco!" Hermione said, flustered. "You're happier than I am!"

"Is that a bad thing?" He asked playfully.

"No, but..." She didn't know how to say what she wanted to. " It's just that I've never really seen you happy before." She said after a while. Draco gently put her on the couch, and lie next to her.

"What do you mean you've never seen me happy?"

"I've seen you in a good mood, but never sincerely happy. I can see it in your eyes."

Malfoy concentrated on his finger for a while. "Its just that _you_ make me happy." He said.

Hermione blushed and hastily wiped away the tiny amount of tears that came to her eyes.

"I think that's the best thing anybody has ever said to me."

"Better than a teacher telling you that your last test score was one hundred and sixteen percent?"

"Loads better."

"Well, you're the best thing that has ever happened to me." Draco said softly as he nuzzled her neck.

**A/N: Yes, well, the story is over, and I couldn't help but have a fluffy ending. **

**Thank you to all who read the story and reviewed! You have made my story what it is now! I may write more Dramione stories soon, so stay on the look out! (But if I do write anymore stories, they will be written all in advance and I will post the chapters when I feel like it. I know how many readers hate waiting so long for the next chapter of a story) **


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